The turbulent Yangtze River water lapped against the side of the ship as it struggled to sail up the river from the Three Gorges.
Lu Xiufu walked out of the cabin and saw Xi Jihu standing on the bow of the boat with his hands behind his hands, looking at the trackers on the riverside.
Xi Jihu was Wu Qian's hand-picked son-in-law. He was talented and had first-class character and ability.
For example, Wu Pu and Wu Lin were both in their early forties and could be regarded as young Jinshi; Lu Xiufu was ranked with them, he was twenty-one years old and was famous at that time together with Wen Yunsun, the number one scholar.
Xi Jihu passed the imperial examination twelve years earlier than them, and passed the imperial examination at the age of nineteen.
He has been in the officialdom for nineteen years now. He is only thirty-eight years old this year, but he has been tempered enough and is in his prime.
He should have been a pillar of the Song Dynasty, a famous minister who would have left a mark in the history of the Song Dynasty.
However, due to the establishment of Zhongwang, the late emperor issued an edict that "people from Wu Qian's party will never be hired", and Xi Jihu's career was cast into a shadow.
As long as Zhao Fu is in power and Jia Sidao Bingguo, it is impossible for him to be reused.
It is obvious that when such people arrive in Sichuan and Shaanxi, they will easily devote themselves to helping Li Xia conquer the world, and they will soon become the mainstay.
And these Wu Qian party members openly returned to the King of Qin, announcing to the world's literati that there were new choices for officialdom.
This time on the way west from Lin'an, Lu Xiufu liked chatting with Xi Jihu.
If you can't even understand Xi Jihu's thoughts, how can you persuade Li Xia to remain loyal to the Song Dynasty?
"Brother Zhongwei, what are you looking at?"
"The river is ruthless, and the Three Gorges has countless blood and tears." Xi Jihu pointed to the ant-like trackers on the riverside, "No wonder there is a saying here, 'A message to those who are rich and famous, don't be a traveler.'"
The banks of the Three Gorges are steep and the trackers, shirtless, struggled to walk among the sharp rocks.
Because the river was flowing so fast, their bodies were so bent that their hands almost touched the ground. They were so tired that they were sweating profusely in the hot July weather, but they walked very slowly, taking nine steps back in ten steps.
It's hard work for trackers, and river boats are actually very dangerous.
The huge waves in the river hit the rocks, and the sound of the waves was like thunder. It was like "rocks pierced through the air, violent waves crashed on the shore, and thousands of piles of snow were rolled up."
If one of the tow ropes breaks suddenly, all the trackers may lose their grip and be unable to hold the boat. The boat may rush along the river and may hit the rocks and capsize.
"No one is innocent. I came to Shu as an official and tortured the people like this. How can I bear it?"
"When you become an official, if you hide in Lin'an City and never see with your own eyes how miserable the people are, you may not know how heavy the official hat is on your head." Xi Jihu said with emotion: "Exploiting the little blood and sweat these people have earned
How can I bear with money?"
Lu Xiufu was silent, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart that if he could really persuade the officials to move the capital to Chang'an, would the mountains and rivers along the way be so long that the officials could see the suffering of the people?
Or will he bring hundreds of officials, a harem, and bodyguards, perform grand ceremonies, spend extravagant money, disturb the place, and in turn cause a catastrophe for the people?
When he thought about this, Lu Xiufu was a little confused.
Xi Jihu asked: "Junshi is seasick again?"
"This is my second time taking a boat into Sichuan. I didn't expect that I would still be so weak."
Lu Xiufu did have a severe headache and felt uncomfortable all over.
Traveling back and forth between Chang'an and Lin'an is extremely difficult, and even in many places on the road, such as the Three Gorges dangerous shoals, you risk your life while traveling.
"does it worth?"
"What?"
"You passed the imperial examination at a young age and are the proud son of heaven. You could have enjoyed happiness in the south of the Yangtze River, or you could have been favored by the King of Qin if you stayed in Chang'an. Why would you rather travel thousands of miles, weather the wind, frost, and sun, and still not forget to persuade me to be loyal to the Emperor Zhao every day? Is it worth it?"
Lu Xiufu did not expect that for more than half a month, Xi Jihu would become more and more rebellious in his words.
When I first set off from Lin'an, I could still think of myself as a minister of the Song Dynasty. Now that I have just arrived in Sichuan and Shu, I start to call my official family "Zhao"?
"Isn't it natural for you and me to be deeply favored by the king and to be loyal to the king and serve the country?"
Xi Jihu was silent for a moment and sang a few songs casually.
"Big centipedes and small centipedes are all poisonous insects of human karma. If there are hundreds of feet attached to the fate, if the flying sky can eat dragons..."
His voice was not high, but he got a little red-eyed at the end of the song and said, "It would be fine if poisonous insects couldn't fly, but if they can really fly, why don't they eat dragons?"
"Brother Zhongwei, the imperial court has turned against Prime Minister Wu."
"Who made the effort to be rehabilitated?" Xi Jihu asked rhetorically.
Lu Xiufu sighed.
Xi Jihu said: "If a king treats his ministers like dirt, then his ministers will regard him as a bandit. As far as I am concerned, a loyal king is not worthy of being a king. He is not worthy of your loyalty and hard work for him."
"I am not here for the officialdom. If you can become king with a strong army and strong horses, the world will return to the chaos of the Five Dynasties, and it will be difficult to stabilize the country again. There must be someone who upholds the orthodoxy, and there must be someone who is determined to make the world believe in morality and justice."
"Well, what you said makes sense." Xi Jihu nodded, convinced, and said: "Someone needs to be determined, so since you are determined, I won't get involved, and you can just follow the hero and start your life.
ambition."
Lu Xiufu was speechless for a moment.
Xi Jihu smiled and said: "I'm just joking, I want you to relax your mind. When countries are over, dynasties come and go, don't moral principles still exist to this day? Why do you think so much? God's behavior is constant, and it was not preserved for Yao.
, don’t die for Jie.”
As he spoke, he smiled, patted Lu Xiufu on the back, and gave him a few more words of enlightenment because he liked the young man.
Lu Xiufu was severely seasick and realized that he had not been able to persuade Xi Jihu. Instead, it was the other party's understatement that seemed to have shaken his mind...
~~
When the ship arrived at Wanzhou, the Wu family's descendants rushed to Chang'an to pay homage to Wu Qian. They then turned overland and headed north. Lu Xiufu was eager to see Li Xia and followed them.
The journey was difficult, but fortunately, Litchi Road and Ziwu Road were rebuilt and the roads were relatively smooth. After many treks, we finally arrived in Chang'an before August.
The children of the Wu family were finally reunited, but Lu Xiufu heard from Wu Ze that Li Xia was not in Chang'an City now.
"The king has gone to inspect Fengli Canal."
…
Regarding water conservancy in Guanzhong, the Zhengguo Canal was first built in the Qin Dynasty to divert Jing water to irrigate the farmland in the northern part of Guanzhong. Later, the water conservancy was improved in successive dynasties. The Baigong Canal was built in the Han Dynasty and the Sanbai Canal was built in the Tang Dynasty.
It was these water conservancies that made the originally poor Guanzhong rich for a time, benefiting from "clothing, feeding and feeding the capital, and the mouths of hundreds of millions."
During the Taiping period of the Song Dynasty, Fengli Canal was built to irrigate more than 35,000 hectares of fields in seven counties from Jingyang to Fuping.
On the third day of August, in the suburbs of Fuping County.
Wu Ze led the officials from Lin'an to meet Li Xia at the edge of Fengli Canal.
Xi Jihu looked at the herdsmen in the distance and asked: "There seem to be many barbarians in Guanzhong?"
"Yes, the barbarians left behind by the Jin Kingdom and Mongolia, the Han people who shaved their heads, as well as the captives and merchants, the scenery in Guanzhong is very different from that in the south of the Yangtze River." Wu Zedao: "Uncle, look over there, those herdsmen are all deserts.
Tuo people."
"Is King Qin here?"
"That's the one beside the canal."
Although they were far apart, Xi Jihu could spot Li Xia at a glance, standing out from the crowd.
"He is indeed a peerless hero."
"Of course, King Mingrui of Qin is both civil and military..."
Lu Xiufu listened to their conversation and felt that the confidence and vibrant atmosphere brought by this heroic lord were completely different from Lin'an.
However, Xi Jihu was surprised when he rode closer.
I saw Li Xia, wearing a narrow-sleeved military uniform, leading a group of people to watch a bull and a cow... doing something virtuous.
"What is this doing?"
"Create cattle and improve breeds."
In fact, Jiangnan is very good at raising cattle. Xi Jihu also knew a thing or two about it, and he quickly gave some pointers...
~~
After Li Xia had spoken with the Wu family's children, Lu Xiufu had a detailed discussion with Li Xia alone.
"The imperial court has conferred the title of King Qin, which shows that the officials and princes are tolerant of King Qin..."
After talking for a while, he took out the remonstrance written on the ship and asked Li Xia to read it.
"I also have some advice to the King of Qin."
But Li Xia took it, glanced at it twice, and said: "Is it good for the king and his ministers to get rid of the traitors? It seems that you don't know that over in Lin'an, Ye Mengding, Jiang Wanli and others have all been dismissed."
"What? Teacher and the others...were dismissed?"
Lu Xiufu couldn't believe it.
When he boarded the ship, he heard the good news from Jiang Wanli and others that they wanted to eliminate traitors and persuade officials.
Now we have just arrived in Chang'an.
"Could there be a mistake? Maybe the news King Qin got was from two years ago?"
"My information is faster than yours coming by river boat..."
Li Xia told the intelligence about Lin'an, which made Lu Xiufu calm down for a while, and said: "I told you that Zhao's country is hopeless. Don't have such expectations anymore."
Lu Xiufu stood there stunned, with only the words "Zhao's country is hopeless" echoing in his mind.
He tried his best to save the situation, but only a simple response left him speechless.
It took a while.
Li Xia casually put the remonstrance letter back into Lu Xiufu's hand and said, "I don't have time to listen to you anymore, and I don't want you to think about it anymore. These are troubled times, and it's too late to save the people, drive out the captives, and bring peace to the world.
Because replacing that good-for-nothing emperor involves fighting over integrity, orthodoxy, and fighting, I'm tired of it, enough is enough."
Hearing this, Lu Xiufu was disappointed and ashamed, and his face darkened, as if he was disheartened.
He lowered his head and thought for a long time.
Suddenly, he murmured: "Don't you know that the ambition of Wei Wu is not a loyal minister of the declining Han Dynasty?"
With these words, his depression began to dissipate.
After all, he was much stronger than other young people, and he quickly adjusted himself.
"It is good that at that time, the king's way was weak, the cross-currents were extremely strong, the heroes were looking at the tigers, and the people had different intentions. They had no capital to bring chaos, and relied on the strategy of submissiveness. Then the Han Dynasty would be destroyed, and the leader of Guizhou would die..."
Lu Xiufu's voice was very soft, as if he was silently carrying something.
Li Xia couldn't quite hear or understand and asked, "What did you say?"
Lu Xiufu recited silently and slowly raised his head. There was still some bitterness on his face, and his eyes were still a little confused, but he gradually regained his determination.
In a very short period of time, he had adjusted his mood...
"I understand. What King Qin said is right. The sea is flowing and all life is in ruins. How can we only care about the Zhao family's ancestral temple?"
As he spoke, Lu Xiufu picked up the remonstrance in his hand, tore it open, split it into two pieces, and then tore it into pieces, throwing it into the canal.
He took a long breath and let the past go.
Instead, I felt relieved.
"I return to Qin today. I only wish to assist the King of Qin in expelling Hu Chen, conquering the world, and saving the people of the world."
"Okay, I'm very happy that Junshi can come back. The matter of becoming king has long been over. Don't worry about the fighting in the court anymore. Let's take a look at our newly made plow..."